Catching Snowflakes for Science

Scientists from the Desert Research Institute in California are recruiting some very young researchers to help them better understand snow storms. The researchers have opened up data collection to citizen scientists, as they will need many snowflake pictures to answer their questions. The 4th and 5th grade students participating in the “Stories in the Snow” project are learning how to take very detailed pictures of snowflakes. Listen to this story to hear more about what the scientists hope to learn from their snow research, what students are learning from participating, and who will benefit.

Related Current Events

A new government report on climate change warns of the rapidly increasing negative effects of climate change and offers recommendations to help slow down its adverse impact. The report explains that not only are humans responsible for climate change, but our ongoing actions are making it worse. Listen to this interview with a climate change expert to hear about the urgency of this warning and what makes her hopeful.

New England has been hit hard by snow in the last month. Storm after storm has left unprecedented amounts of snow to be removed from the streets in cities like Boston, Massachusetts. Where does all of this snow go and what happens to it? Listen to hear how the City of Boston is dealing with mounds of snow.

The Sochi Olympics started with lots of snow—lots of man-made snow, guaranteed by machines. This time last year, Sochi was dry, but they have enough snow now to cover almost 920 football fields. Listen to this story to learn how the machine works.

Farms aren't the only things suffering in a severe drought - ski resorts are also hurting. With little to no snow fall, ski resorts delay openings to unprecedented dates. Listen to this story to learn more about how communities are living with this reality.

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These stories have challenging vocabulary and complex language structure.